Air circulating and heating device



Dec. 23, 1969 M. J. ENO ET AL AIR CIRCULATING AND HEATING DEVICE Filed Sept. 5, 196'? l lll/l/l//ll//l/ l l .IY l////l//II v es Je), f2 391 f/ W/ W@7 v INVENTOR. MELBOURNE J. EN@ 'r r//f 1/ BYw/LBUR E. EN@

ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,486,002 AIR CIRCULATING AND HEATING DEVICE Melbourne J. Eno and Wilbur E. Eno, both of 6421 SW. 42nd Terrace, Miami, Fla. 33155 Filed Sept. 5, 1967, Ser. No. 665,546 Int. Cl. HOSb 1/00, 3/02; F24h 3/00 U.S. Cl. 219-367 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an elongate, strip-type heater for use in a closed area and for the purpose of promoting and pumping a circulatory system of air. The strip heater includes a tubular body along the length of which there is disposed interiorly an electrically energized heater element. The length of the tubular body is supported at the ends by end capslto close the ends and includes supporting feet to hold the tubular body above the floor. Staggered banks of slots are provided in the upper and lower surfaces of the tube to permit a How-through stream of air in the interior of the tube. Also, within the tube a bed of absorbent material is loosely packed in circumposed relation of the heater tube.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide an improved strip heater for use in closets, in pianos and in electronic equipment which is of an improved construction and which promotes a dow-through and circulatory system of air within a closed area.

It is another object of this invention to provide an air circulating and heating device which is simple in construction, includes inexpensive materials, and which is adapted to be used in varying lengths for providing heat and circulation of air in a relatively confined space, such as in a piano, electronic equipment, or in a closet.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the instant air circulating and heating device;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the device;

FIGU-RE 3 is a bottom plan view of the device;

FIGURE 4 is a plan view in elevation taken along the plane indicated by the line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 and looking in the direction of the arrow;

FIGURE 5 is a view in elevation which has been partly broken away and which illustrates the flow-through chimney effect to be described hereinafter;

FIGURE 6 is a partial, enlarged elevation view showing in cross section the heater element which is employed;

FIGURE 7 is a partial view of that portion of FIG- URE 6 with the ar'rowed line 7 therearound; and

FIGURE 8 is a schematic view illustrating the ilowthrough path of an alternative embodiment of the instant invention utilizing a decreased number of flow-through banks of slots as will be described.

Referring to the drawings wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views and referring particularly to FIGURE 1 the air circulating and heating device is generally designated by the numeral 12 and includes an elongate tubular metal body 14 which is rectangular as seen in cross section defining an enlarged top portion and bot* tom portion 16 and 18 separated by the sides 20 and 22. The ends of the tubular member 24 and 26 are closed ICC by ends caps 28 and 30. Within the tube, there are provided two parallel glass tubes 32 and 34 which extend substantially the length of the tube column in side-byside relation and which are of substantially three-sixteenths of an inch diameter hollow glass material. One end of the tubes of glass are connected by a U-shaped sleeve 36 of flexible, fibrous material which is a nonconductor. The glass tubes and sleeve define a receptacle of U-shape for a heater element generally designated by the numeral 38 which comprises a fiberglass core 39 on which there is a helically wound resistor Wire 40. The ends of the resistor wire are connected to a conductor 42 which leads through a hole 44 in the end cap 28 and thence to a remote wall outlet plug. Within the hole 44 a bushing 45 is provided to maintain the insulated conductor wire 42 in a fixed position within the hole. Within the column of the tubular body of the heater, a looselypacked, rubbery and spongy type of material is provided and designated by the numeral 48. This material is in llake form and constitutes in this preferred embodiment a means of insulation maintaining the spaced relation of the heater element in the hollow of the tubular length and cushioning it in position. The loosely packed material about the element cushions the glass tubes and resistor wires and maintains the same in generally spaced relation while at the same time it is of a nonconductive material and acts as an insulator. Additionally, the spongy material is of the type which absorbs and holds moisture, for instance, the product known as Arma Flex of the Armstrong Cork Company is a satisfactory product for this purpose. There are provided in the top 16 banks of aligned, adjacent slots which are, in the case of the top, designated by the numeral 50, 52 and 54 and, in the case of the bottom, designated by the numerals 56 and 58. These banks of slots provide through-passage for air caused to circulate in the manner now to be described. When energy is provided to the resistors, the tubular length of the device is heated and there is caused a flow of air upwardly which is replaced by air which circulates around the exterior of the device and through the device in a chimney type of effect. That component of the air which is involved in the chimney effect passes through the slots of either the bank 56 and 58 and thence dividesI and courses through the interior and consequently over and around the rubbery, spongy material within the tube to exit through the banks at the top. In so doing moisture which is contained in the spongy, rubbery material is released and then when the device is shut off it is again absorbed. This permits a heat-pumping or air-pumping action through the device and the spongy material acts as an absorbent material to iron out or smooth out the effect of the changes in humidity that take place.

The end caps are of one-piece plastic material including a body portion 60 and a leg portion 62. The body portion is provided with a fiat end surface 64 and a well or recess 66 sized to nest the ends of the tubular body snugly therein with the tubular body being supported by the legs 62 which are preferably bifurcated to provide feet 68 and 70, the leg portion being connected to the body portion along the face by a web 72 having an inclined face 74 in the order of approximately 45 degrees.

It will be seen that by reason of this construction when energy is supplied to the resistor, heat will be provided to heat the metal tube and the rubbery material and that the heat will be distributed evenly along the length of the device. There will then be a path or flow of air around the device which will in accordance with the Bernoulli effect converge and form a stream just as one can blow out a candle on one side of a cylindrical object by blowing from a diametrically opposed point, provided that the candle flame is positioned at a point just beyond the point of confluence where the stream of air again units into a steady stream. In addition, there will be a chimneytype of effect caused by that component of the air which courses through between the banks of slits and through the spongy material. This component will be broken up and rendered turbulent and generally in a dispersed condition. It will flow towards the confluence of the aforesaid stream and cause an additional turbulence and dispersion of the heat over a larger area. This facilitates the effect desired in the circulation of the air through articles of clothing, for instance, those stored on a rack in a closet to prevent mildew. The material in the tube will also either lend or take moisture from the air coursing through and store it in the absorbent material for release so as to tend to maintain an equilibrium condition in the moisture content in the ow of the air. Longer or shorter length units are for use in pianos, television sets and other electronic equipment such as high fidelity equipment,

While the instant invention has been shown and described herein in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is therefore not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent apparatus and articles. What is claimed is: 1. An air circulating and heating device comprising: an elongate, hollow length of tubular material having a top, bottom and side surfaces and open opposite ends, an end cap to close each of said ends, -said end caps having relatively short supporting legs of a common length; mutually inter-cooperating male and female means connecting one of the end caps in closing relation of each end of the hollow length with the legs extending in a common direction to support said tube on a support surface with the bottom surface above `said support surface; the top and bottom surfaces of said tube being provided with slots in spaced relation along the tube length defining a flow path through the hollow of the tube between the slots in said top and bottom surfaces; a heater element dispo-sed within said tube length in spaced relation from said surfaces, said heater element extending substantially the length of said length of tubular material and including an elongate resistor and an insulator circumposed about the length thereof, said element being positioned in a predetermined position relative to said tubular material within the hollow; and loosely packed insulation means in the flow path through the hollow in surrounding relation of said heater element and maintaining said element in spaced relation with respect to the tubular material and cushioning the element in said predetermined position within the hollow without blocking the ow path, said insulation substantially lling the tube,

whereby when said resistor is energized, heat is emitted to heat the tube and cause a circulatory path of air of two components, one component which ows upwardly over the surfaces of the elongate hollow length, and a second component which courses through the hollow and loosely packed insulation means.

2. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said heater element comprises a length of nonconductive fiberglass, helically wound resistor wire on the exterior of the length of the fiberglass and a tube of glas-s material disposed about said length.

3. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein one .of the end caps includes a hole and a bushing nested in the hole and providing a throughbore for passage of an insulated conductor to electrically connect to the resistor element and provide electrical energy to energize the heater element.

4. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said legs are bifurcated, and extend downwardly and outwardly on either side of the center line of the device beyond the outermost plane of the side surfaces to support the device.

5. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said mutually inter-cooperating male and female means comprises a recess in each of said end caps sized to snugly jacket and receive one of the ends .of said tubular length.

6. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein there are provided three spaced banks of slots in the top surface and two spaced banks of slots in the bottom surface, the banks in the bottom surface each being between two of the banks in the top surface.

7. The device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said loosely packed insulation means in the flow path comprises flake-s of spongy, rubbery material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,099,999 6/ 1914 Sheppard 219-342 1,154,412 9/1915 Kuhn -et al 219--376 X 2,396,474 3/1946 Riley 55--208 X 2,879,364 3/1959 Mucher 338-214 X 2,915,615 12/1959 Leipold 219-549 X 3,045,102 7/1962 Fessenden 219-549 X JOSEPH V. TRUHE, Primary Examiner M. C. FLIESLER, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

